Jennie’s ‘Ruby’: A paradox of fight and fragility

Jennie, referencing Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, in an Interview with Zane Lowe, made Ruby as she likes it — inspired by the themes and emotions of the play. On Capital FM, she revealed that she had been “working on [her debut solo studio album] for the past one year”, with the 1st single ‘Mantra’ being released in October 2024, and stated on Hits Radio: “this whole album, every little step was experimenting and going out of that comfort zone, being… bold and vulnerable”. Ruby, titled after the name she adopted in her youth, consists of 15 songs that portray a paradox of fight and fragility, and represents Jennie’s first body of work since founding her own record label: Odd Atelier.

The dichotomy between defiance and delicacy is deconstructed through the intimate progression of Ruby

This is achieved through sound, but more importantly through “putting [her]self into all the messages… to represent [her]”. Sonically, ‘like JENNIE’, ‘with the IE (way up)’ and ‘Filter’ represent the fight, which is mirrored in their messages. In parallel, ‘start a war’, which has softer elements, maintains this message, being inspired by the feeling of “wanting to protect someone”, and presents it as instinct through the lyrics “And I think I’ve grown / ‘Til somebody comes for you”. These softer elements, to represent fragility, are dominant in tracks ‘Starlight’ and ‘twin’ which have a warm feeling and focus on themes of “honesty… and overcoming a sense of loneliness”. Vulnerability on Ruby, however, is not limited to the mellow tracks, but is found on the upbeat ‘Handlebars’, dreamy ‘Seoul City’ and heavy ‘F.T.S.’. The dichotomy between defiance and delicacy is deconstructed through the intimate progression of Ruby.
 
One of the standouts from the album is ‘ZEN’. ‘ZEN’ was not marketed as a single, but it was the second track of the album to be revealed, via official video, and the first song to be revealed following the official album trailer. ‘ZEN’ is “the song that unlocked the identity of the album”. The official video, directed by Cho Gi-Seok was truly stunning. The visuals, choreography and couture featured worked in alignment with the lyrics of ‘ZEN’ so flawlessly. Notably, as she sings “Rain” she opens her hand for the entire scene to be engulfed in rainfall, and when she later sings “Freeze” the raindrops lock in position as she continues to perform. ‘ZEN’, as an experience beyond sound, makes Ruby breathtaking.

These styles are new avenues for Jennie… it’s exciting to see an artist jump into the deep end

Jennie’s debut studio album features five collaborations with six different artists: FKJ, Dua Lipa, Doechii, Dominic Fike, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis. This allowed Jennie to demonstrate her ability as a seasoned artist, being in the industry for nine years, to lack constraints regarding genre. As Ruby’s third single, ‘ExtraL’ blended Jennie and Doechii’s vocals over a hip-hop infused beat. They serve femme fatale energy through lyrics centred on female empowerment, which is mirrored by their styling in the music video. The single is assertive, with both artists giving themselves credit for their growth and success as they rap “sweat hard, wet t-shirt / Extra-large, ain’t scared of the dirt” to give limelight to their dedications to their craft. 
 
The final songs I want to focus on, to emphasise the versatility Jennie demonstrates on Ruby, are ‘Damn Right’ and ‘Starlight’. ‘Damn Right’, featuring Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis, is a sensual 90’s R&B track which — despite the involvement of three stand-alone artists — remains cohesive and effortless, with Jennie’s sultry vocals as a highlight. ‘Starlight’, without any features, puts Jennie’s impassioned singing on a breakbeat production, which is opened and concluded with a spoken-word interlude. These styles are new avenues for Jennie, and despite some limitations regarding lacklustre hooks and choruses, it’s exciting to see an artist jump into the deep end.

The lack of consistency between the digital and physical versions is the greatest limitation of Ruby

There are two main limitations to Ruby. Firstly, with a third of the album having features, and some of the remaining two thirds being instrumentally focused tracks, such as ‘JANE’, Jennie’s talents are eclipsed intermittently throughout the album. In ‘ExtraL’ and ‘Damn Right’, Doechii and Childish Gambino respectively perform stronger raps than Jennie does in the rest of the album. Therefore, her talents as ‘main rapper’ of Blackpink are not consistently showcased in Ruby, with her best rapping being in ‘like JENNIE’. 
 
The lack of consistency between the digital and physical versions is the greatest limitation of Ruby. The physical CD is advertised as ‘JENNIE Only Audio’, and thus the collaborations are performed by only Jennie. This isn’t a large issue, due to the absence of these artists being filled with unique verses from Jennie in ‘ExtraL’, ‘Love Hangover’ and ‘Damn Right’, and it could be appreciated as exclusive content. Unfortunately, however, it taints the album with confusion as it feels unclear whether it was intentional or incidental. More disappointingly, the track listing differs between both versions, and quite jarringly. The digital tracklist, as teased on social media, is distinctly different from the physical version, at least for the UK Jewel Case CD which I purchased. The Jewel Case CD offers a more pleasurable listening experience, with the transition from ‘JANE’ to ‘start a war’ being smoother than ‘JANE’ to ‘like JENNIE’, but the inconsistency portrays Ruby as rushed.  
 
In summary, Ruby is an incredibly enjoyable album — visually and sonically — imbued with versatility and talent, speaking to the importance of creative freedom. Jennie won the Global Force Award through this debut, granting it critical acclaim, and it built hype for her solo performance for Coachella 2025. Ruby has set the bar for Jennie, and she will continue to raise it, as already demonstrated by her success during her mini tour: ‘The Ruby Experience’.

Recommended Listening: ‘ZEN’, ‘ExtraL’ & ‘Starlight’

★★★★

Listen to Ruby here: